Good French bread is easier to eat than it is to
make. Time, temperature, hydration, mixing method etc. etc. etc. I
attempted 2 1/2 kinds today. The 1/2 was really a sourdough wolf in
French sheep's clothing.
I decided to start my quest on familiar turf; The Bread baker's Apprentice. First up is the French bread formula from Peter Reinhart's new book. It uses Pate Fermente, or Old Dough as a preferment.
The dough goes through two 2 hour fermentations before being shaped. The shaped loaves proof for 45-75 minutes. The crust was nice and crackly. The crumb was open but I think I can do better. The flavor was nice but a little "bland". My taste buds are used to sourdough I guess.
This is a French bread from Raymond Clavel's The Taste of Bread. It is a direct method bread that uses ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C) and barley malt extract. I've never used asorbic acid before. Calvel pays great attention to the mixing method. This bread uses the Improved method. The flour and water ar mixed for less than 5 minutes and then allowed to rest for 15 minutes. The remainder of the ingredients are then added and the dough is mixed for an additional ten minutes at a relatively low speed.
I'm not sure if it was the asorbic acid, but the crumb was nicely open with lots of big holes. The crust was very crackly. The flavor was somewhere in between the bread above and sourdough. This is very nice bread.
These are baguettes made with sourdough. It was more an exercise in shaping than French bread. I also wanted to compare the flavors. It may have nothing to do with the dough but these were the best shaped of the three.
The crumb was not as open as it could be. I think that is a result of my shaping. The crust was great. It didn't soften as the bread cooled, rather it stayed nice and crunchy. The flavor was nice ad sour without being overpowering.
All in all, not a bad day in The Lab. It seems the Professor Calvel may know what he is talking about. His bread was open, moist and had a great crust. Another advantage is that it is a direct method bread, 4 hours from start to finish. Given that Reinhart's bread uses a preferment, and thus an extra day, I think I would prefer the sourdough baguettes. One thing is clear. For me, baguettes present a shaping challenge. As with most things in life, practice makes perfect.
.
I decided to start my quest on familiar turf; The Bread baker's Apprentice. First up is the French bread formula from Peter Reinhart's new book. It uses Pate Fermente, or Old Dough as a preferment.
